Canola futures jump in last-minute trading

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Published: March 2, 2020

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WINNIPEG, (MarketsFarm) – Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures canola contracts stronger on Monday, benefitting from gains in the Chicago soy complex and European rapeseed.

Of note, there was a jump of almost C$3 per tonne in the final minutes of today’s session.

Support also came from a lack of farmer selling and increased short covering. Declines in Malaysian palm oil weighed on values.

By mid-afternoon Monday, the Canadian dollar was higher at 74.88 U.S. cents, having gained approximately a half cent since Friday’s close.

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There were 18,048 contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 18,185 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 9,930 contracts traded.

Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.

Price Change
Canola May 463.00 up 6.70
Jul 470.60 up 6.60
Nov 480.20 up 5.00
Jan 486.90 up 5.10

SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were stronger on Monday, due increased buying interest after being oversold.

The World Bank said it might step in to help stabilize the global economy as the number of reported cases and deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to increase. As of today, the number of cases world-wide exceeded 90,000 with more than 3,000 deaths. Fears have been that COVID-19 will stymie global demand.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported today export inspections of almost 670,610 tonnes of soybeans for the week ended Feb. 27. That’s a gain of more than 74,330 tonnes from the previous week. To date in the current marketing year, soybean export inspections have amounted to 29.56 million tonnes.

Today marked the first day of China offering tariff exemptions on a wide variety of U.S. agriculture products, including soybeans, corn and wheat. The U.S./China Phase One trade deal outlines the latter is to purchase US$40 billion in such goods in 2020.

In South America, the soybean harvest in Brazil reached approximately 43 per cent on Feb. 28. Although that’s 13 points behind the pace last year, it’s still within the five-year average. Brazil is on pace to produce a record soybean crop of about 125 million tonnes. Meanwhile, Argentina temporarily ceased soy exports, as the federal government implements its new 33 per cent export tax on soybeans.

CORN futures were higher on Monday, due to spillover from the soy complex.

The USDA said export inspections of corn were around 896,200 tonnes. That’s about 30,600 tonnes more than the previous week. So far this marketing year nearly 14.12 million tonnes have been shipped from the U.S., which was down almost 46.0 per cent from last year.

The Argentine government said it will decrease the export tax on corn. The move is reportedly to persuade farmers to plant more corn acres and fewer soybean acres next year.

WHEAT futures were mixed on Monday, with slight losses for Chicago soft wheat, while hard wheat in Minneapolis and Kansas City were steady to higher.

Export inspections of wheat were close to 654,100 tonnes, an increase of almost 50 per cent from the previous week. Total export inspections tallied 18.83 million tonnes, more than 10.5 per cent ahead of this time last year.

In international sales, Morocco issued a tender for 354,000 tonnes of wheat and Egypt issued a tender for 200,000 tonnes.

 

OUTSIDE MARKETS

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York was up $1.99 at US$46.75 per barrel.

In the afternoon, the Canadian dollar was trading around US74.87 cents, up from 74.47 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar was C$1.3356.

 

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne.

Canola Mar 20 459.30s +6.50 +1.44%

Canola May 20 463.00s +6.70 +1.47%

Canola Jul 20 470.60s +6.60 +1.42%

Canola Nov 20 480.20s +5.00 +1.05%

Canola Jan 21 486.90s +5.10 +1.06%

 

American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound. Prices are displayed with fractions (2/8, 4/8, and 6/8) instead of decimals. -2 equals .25, -4 equals .50, -6 equals .75. The “s” means it is the settlement.

 

Chicago

Soybean Mar 20 890-4s +7-0 +0.79%

Soybean May 20 901-0s +8-2 +0.92%

Soybean Jul 20 910-6s +9-2 +1.03%

Soybean Aug 20 913-6s +9-6 +1.08%

Soybean Sep 20 913-6s +9-4 +1.05%

 

Soybean Meal Mar 20 302.2s +3.6 +1.21%

Soybean Meal May 20 308.9s +3.3 +1.08%

Soybean Meal Jul 20 313.3s +3.2 +1.03%

 

Soybean Oil Mar 20 28.57s +0.26 +0.92%

Soybean Oil May 20 28.91s +0.23 +0.80%

Soybean Oil Jul 20 29.26s +0.22 +0.76%

 

Corn Mar 20 374-6s +8-2 +2.25%

Corn May 20 375-4s +7-2 +1.97%

Corn Jul 20 378-4s +6-0 +1.61%

Corn Sep 20 376-6s +4-2 +1.14%

Corn Dec 20 380-6s +3-6 +0.99%

 

Oats Mar 20 259-0s -9-6 -3.63%

Oats May 20 265-4s -7-2 -2.66%

Oats Jul 20 267-4s -4-0 -1.47%

Oats Sep 20 262-0s -2-6 -1.04%

Oats Dec 20 260-4s -2-0 -0.76%

 

Wheat Mar 20 526-2s -2-6 -0.52%

Wheat May 20 523-2s -1-6 -0.33%

Wheat Jul 20 524-2s -2-0 -0.38%

Wheat Sep 20 530-4s -2-4 -0.47%

Wheat Dec 20 541-2s -2-2 -0.41%

 

Minneapolis

Spring Wheat Mar 20 512-2s +1-0 +0.20%

Spring Wheat May 20 528-2s +0-6 +0.14%

Spring Wheat Jul 20 537-4s +0-6 +0.14%

Spring Wheat Sep 20 547-0s +0-6 +0.14%

Spring Wheat Dec 20 561-2s +0-2 +0.04%

 

Kansas City

Hard Red Wheat Mar 20 451-0s +5-4 +1.23%

Hard Red Wheat May 20 457-6s +4-4 +0.99%

Hard Red Wheat Jul 20 464-2s +4-0 +0.87%

Hard Red Wheat Sep 20 472-6s +3-4 +0.75%

Hard Red Wheat Dec 20 485-6s +3-0 +0.62%

 

Chicago livestock futures in US¢/pound, Pit trade

Live Cattle Apr 20 110.150s +2.575 +2.39%

Live Cattle Jun 20 103.975s +2.775 +2.74%

Live Cattle Aug 20 104.350s +2.075 +2.03%

 

Feeder Cattle Mar 20 133.725s +2.450 +1.87%

Feeder Cattle Apr 20 135.050s +2.350 +1.77%

Feeder Cattle May 20 135.975s +2.450 +1.83%

 

Lean Hogs Apr 20 62.800s +0.525 +0.84%

Lean Hogs May 20 68.975s -0.050 -0.07%

Lean Hogs Jun 20 77.025s -0.200 -0.26%

About the author

Phil Franz-Warkentin

Phil Franz-Warkentin

Editor - Daily News

Phil Franz-Warkentin grew up on an acreage in southern Manitoba and has reported on agriculture for over 20 years. Based in Winnipeg, his writing has appeared in publications across Canada and internationally. Phil is a trusted voice on the Prairie radio waves providing daily futures market updates. In his spare time, Phil enjoys playing music and making art.

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